Saturday, June 26, 2010
Friday, May 28, 2010
Of Mice and Men
Detail
John Steinbeck uses the first paragraph in the book Of Mice and Men to set up the entire story. He uses parallels to give clues about the characters that come up in the book.
"the Salinas River drops in close to the hillside bank and runs deep and green". This quote means many different things to me. When I think of the word deep, I think strong or something deep in depth like water or words being spoken to me can be deep. George is the deep one in the book because he has a great depth of mind. Green can mean jealous, sickly, or new life. Lennie is the green one because he is sick in the mind. He does not think very deeply.
"slopes curve up to the strong and rocky Gabilan mountains" is another quote that was used as a parallel in the first paragraph. The word strong reminds me of something stable. Rocky reminds me of something rough and unstable like loose boulders that could fall at any time. George is the strong and stable character. He is mentally strong unlike Lennie who is rocky in the mind and can not think for himself.
Another parallel is used in the quote "under the trees leaves lie deep and so crisp". Deep still means strong or great in depth. Also deep can mean stable. If a rod is deep in the ground then it is more stable than if it was closer to the surface. George's mind is deep. He has a very stable mind and his opinions cannot easily be broken. Something crisp like a leaf can be easily broken and ripped apart. Lennie's mind is crisp. He does not have his own opinion about anything. George makes all of the decisions and cannot be put down easily or made to believe something very easily.
In the quote "a path beaten hard by boys coming down from the ranches to swim in the deep pool, and beaten hard by tramps who come wearily down from the highway" there are different people being talked about with the same dream and have a lot of struggles to get to their dream. Lennie, George, and Candy are all completely different people coming from different places with the same dream to own their own land. They have financial problems and struggle to reach their dream.
The last quote that spoke to me with a parallel is "the limb is worn smooth by men who sat on it". A limb that has been sat on many times gets used to being sat on and gets worn smooth. George has taken care of Lennie so long that he has gotten used to being around him and taking care of him that he has a permanent wear.
Point of View
The third person point of view helps me to see the life that the men in the book Of Mice and Men lead.
From a passage on page 68, the quote, "Crooks did not see him...on raising his eyes...a scowl came on his face" shows that Crooks does not like company and that he is more of a loner than a person that likes company. He values his privacy. Since his reaction was a scowl instead of a "hello" or a smile, I assume that Crooks was not looking to find a friend or a relationship of any kind. "Lenny smiled helplessly in an attempt to make friends," shows that Lenny was knowingly walking in on Crooks when he was not supposed to but he went in anyways because he was looking for a friendship. He seems like the type of person that does not like to be alone and needs a relationship.
On page 100, another passage shows how lonely Lenny is and how he does not like to be alone. "And then from out of Lennie's head there came a little fat old woman," shows that when no one is around, Lenny feels so lonely that people come to mind and speak to him to keep him company. "You do bad things," is a quote from Aunt Clara. George or somebody else is always criticising Lennie so he got so used to being yelled at that Aunt Clara comes to his mind to yell at him because he probably feels uncomfortable when he is not being yelled at.
Tone
A devotional and hopeful tone was put in Steinbeck's novel that describe the relationship of two men, Lennie and George.
"No-look! I was jus' foolin', Lennie. 'Cause I want you to stay with me," is a what George says to Lennie on page 13 after they get into a fight. George obviously wants Lennie to stay with him no matter how bad their fights are. George has a devoted relationship to Lennie. On page 72 Crooks is telling Lennie that George could get hurt. Lennie then says, "Ain't nobody goin' to suppose no hurt to George," and " Ain't nobody goin' to talk no hurt to George." These two quotes show Lennie's devotion to George. Not only does he not want George hurt, but he does not want anyone to even talk about George even being able to get hurt. Lennie believes that as long as he is around, no one can hurt George.
Lennie is repeatedly wanting George to tell him of a place that they are going to live on their own. In their words they are going to live on 'the fatta the lan'. When George is giving details on their future home that has rabbits and alfalfa and cows and chickens and more, they both get hopeful and start to think that they could someday have the home that they fantasize about. They get so hopeful that they even make a plan to go after their dream land.
John Steinbeck uses the first paragraph in the book Of Mice and Men to set up the entire story. He uses parallels to give clues about the characters that come up in the book.
"the Salinas River drops in close to the hillside bank and runs deep and green". This quote means many different things to me. When I think of the word deep, I think strong or something deep in depth like water or words being spoken to me can be deep. George is the deep one in the book because he has a great depth of mind. Green can mean jealous, sickly, or new life. Lennie is the green one because he is sick in the mind. He does not think very deeply.
"slopes curve up to the strong and rocky Gabilan mountains" is another quote that was used as a parallel in the first paragraph. The word strong reminds me of something stable. Rocky reminds me of something rough and unstable like loose boulders that could fall at any time. George is the strong and stable character. He is mentally strong unlike Lennie who is rocky in the mind and can not think for himself.
Another parallel is used in the quote "under the trees leaves lie deep and so crisp". Deep still means strong or great in depth. Also deep can mean stable. If a rod is deep in the ground then it is more stable than if it was closer to the surface. George's mind is deep. He has a very stable mind and his opinions cannot easily be broken. Something crisp like a leaf can be easily broken and ripped apart. Lennie's mind is crisp. He does not have his own opinion about anything. George makes all of the decisions and cannot be put down easily or made to believe something very easily.
In the quote "a path beaten hard by boys coming down from the ranches to swim in the deep pool, and beaten hard by tramps who come wearily down from the highway" there are different people being talked about with the same dream and have a lot of struggles to get to their dream. Lennie, George, and Candy are all completely different people coming from different places with the same dream to own their own land. They have financial problems and struggle to reach their dream.
The last quote that spoke to me with a parallel is "the limb is worn smooth by men who sat on it". A limb that has been sat on many times gets used to being sat on and gets worn smooth. George has taken care of Lennie so long that he has gotten used to being around him and taking care of him that he has a permanent wear.
Point of View
The third person point of view helps me to see the life that the men in the book Of Mice and Men lead.
From a passage on page 68, the quote, "Crooks did not see him...on raising his eyes...a scowl came on his face" shows that Crooks does not like company and that he is more of a loner than a person that likes company. He values his privacy. Since his reaction was a scowl instead of a "hello" or a smile, I assume that Crooks was not looking to find a friend or a relationship of any kind. "Lenny smiled helplessly in an attempt to make friends," shows that Lenny was knowingly walking in on Crooks when he was not supposed to but he went in anyways because he was looking for a friendship. He seems like the type of person that does not like to be alone and needs a relationship.
On page 100, another passage shows how lonely Lenny is and how he does not like to be alone. "And then from out of Lennie's head there came a little fat old woman," shows that when no one is around, Lenny feels so lonely that people come to mind and speak to him to keep him company. "You do bad things," is a quote from Aunt Clara. George or somebody else is always criticising Lennie so he got so used to being yelled at that Aunt Clara comes to his mind to yell at him because he probably feels uncomfortable when he is not being yelled at.
Tone
A devotional and hopeful tone was put in Steinbeck's novel that describe the relationship of two men, Lennie and George.
"No-look! I was jus' foolin', Lennie. 'Cause I want you to stay with me," is a what George says to Lennie on page 13 after they get into a fight. George obviously wants Lennie to stay with him no matter how bad their fights are. George has a devoted relationship to Lennie. On page 72 Crooks is telling Lennie that George could get hurt. Lennie then says, "Ain't nobody goin' to suppose no hurt to George," and " Ain't nobody goin' to talk no hurt to George." These two quotes show Lennie's devotion to George. Not only does he not want George hurt, but he does not want anyone to even talk about George even being able to get hurt. Lennie believes that as long as he is around, no one can hurt George.
Lennie is repeatedly wanting George to tell him of a place that they are going to live on their own. In their words they are going to live on 'the fatta the lan'. When George is giving details on their future home that has rabbits and alfalfa and cows and chickens and more, they both get hopeful and start to think that they could someday have the home that they fantasize about. They get so hopeful that they even make a plan to go after their dream land.
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Lange's Photos
Dorothea Lange took many photos of a migrant mother and her family. Of all of the photographs, one caught my eye the most. In this picture the woman was sitting with her children and her wedding ring stood out.
The photos show obvious financial struggle with the family. The ring on the mother's finger looks like it would be worth a lot. So why does she keep it? Why does she not sell the ring to buy better shelter for her family. My guess is that the ring is her most valuable possesion and that she may possibly be widowed and the ring is the only memory of him that she has. She probably does not want to lose that memory of him unless she has to.
The photos show obvious financial struggle with the family. The ring on the mother's finger looks like it would be worth a lot. So why does she keep it? Why does she not sell the ring to buy better shelter for her family. My guess is that the ring is her most valuable possesion and that she may possibly be widowed and the ring is the only memory of him that she has. She probably does not want to lose that memory of him unless she has to.
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Animal Farm
George Orwell used the characters in Animal farm to represent the Russian Revolution. The way the characters acted and the way Orwell wrote the book helped me to better understand the Russian Revolution. The use of animals as characters was very effected.
Napoleon, a pig on the farm, represented Stalin. Napoleon was the dictator of Animal Farm just as Stalin was the dictator of Russia. The other animals on the farm listened to what Napoleon said and followed his rules because everything he wanted done seemed right to the other animals. Stalin ruled Russia the same way. The animal characters also made the story more interesting and made the story easier to follow. Orwell made a good effective use of animals as characters to represent the Russian Revolution.
Napoleon, a pig on the farm, represented Stalin. Napoleon was the dictator of Animal Farm just as Stalin was the dictator of Russia. The other animals on the farm listened to what Napoleon said and followed his rules because everything he wanted done seemed right to the other animals. Stalin ruled Russia the same way. The animal characters also made the story more interesting and made the story easier to follow. Orwell made a good effective use of animals as characters to represent the Russian Revolution.
Friday, April 30, 2010
The Giver
Can you imagine a world where everything is perfect and everyone is the same? That is what Jonas's world is like, but soon after he turns twelve, he realizes a world of perfection and similarity is not entirely good. Lois Lowry's The Giver interested me with its truthful story of how utopia's are not perfect.
In Jonas's community, everyone gets assigned a role at the age of twelve. Nobody gets to choose how they spend the rest of their lives. All of the members of the community are fine with their role including Jonas. Jonas got assigned to reciece special training from the Giver. During his special training, Jonas discovers feelings, colors, and pain, all of which he has never experienced before and noone in his community except him and the Giver can experience. He enjoyed having feelings like love, and see colors like red. The pain that he experienced like war was good to have. Pain made him stronger. Jonas soon finds that the community that he once thought was perfect was in fact not perfect at all. The Giver and Jonas try to find a way that their entire community could have all of the feelings, colors, and pain that they have to make their community better.
In Jonas's community, everyone gets assigned a role at the age of twelve. Nobody gets to choose how they spend the rest of their lives. All of the members of the community are fine with their role including Jonas. Jonas got assigned to reciece special training from the Giver. During his special training, Jonas discovers feelings, colors, and pain, all of which he has never experienced before and noone in his community except him and the Giver can experience. He enjoyed having feelings like love, and see colors like red. The pain that he experienced like war was good to have. Pain made him stronger. Jonas soon finds that the community that he once thought was perfect was in fact not perfect at all. The Giver and Jonas try to find a way that their entire community could have all of the feelings, colors, and pain that they have to make their community better.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Cross Examination
As a teenager I am being cross examined a lot. Adults refuse to trust me not because I am an untrustworthy person, but because of my age. Apparently a common rule among adults is 'Do not trust teenagers.' On many occasions I have been thoroughly questioned on my passwords.
On my computer and phone I have passwords to all of my applications and folders and I refuse to tell anyone what my passwords are or let anyone into any of my applications and folders. When my mom found out about my passwords she started getting suspicious. She questioned me for hours until I finally told her my passwords and let her go through my computer and phone. I tried telling her that I just like my privacy and that I was not trying to hide anything from her but she just kept saying that I am a teenager and cannot be trusted. I change my passwords all of the time so my mom stays suspicious and questions me many times when she tries to sneak on my computer to go through my folders and finds out that she no longer knows my passwords.
On my computer and phone I have passwords to all of my applications and folders and I refuse to tell anyone what my passwords are or let anyone into any of my applications and folders. When my mom found out about my passwords she started getting suspicious. She questioned me for hours until I finally told her my passwords and let her go through my computer and phone. I tried telling her that I just like my privacy and that I was not trying to hide anything from her but she just kept saying that I am a teenager and cannot be trusted. I change my passwords all of the time so my mom stays suspicious and questions me many times when she tries to sneak on my computer to go through my folders and finds out that she no longer knows my passwords.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Celebration
There are many things in life to celebrate. Life itself calls for celebration. When I think of what I have to celebrate, I think of my mother's pregnancy and little Kathryn Danielle inside of her.
My mom is nearly 8 months pregnant. Over the weekend my mom, step-dad, and I traveled to Jackson, Tennessee to visit the family. During our visit, we had a baby shower to celebrate Katie. I am usually not a fan of baby showers because I think that they are boring, but Katie's celebration was fun! When I think of baby showers as being a celebration of life, the more fun the whole get together seems. Kathryn is due at the end of May or beginning of June. I cannot wait!! Her birthday celebrations are going to be awesome!!
What do you have to celebrate?
My mom is nearly 8 months pregnant. Over the weekend my mom, step-dad, and I traveled to Jackson, Tennessee to visit the family. During our visit, we had a baby shower to celebrate Katie. I am usually not a fan of baby showers because I think that they are boring, but Katie's celebration was fun! When I think of baby showers as being a celebration of life, the more fun the whole get together seems. Kathryn is due at the end of May or beginning of June. I cannot wait!! Her birthday celebrations are going to be awesome!!
What do you have to celebrate?
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